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*According to the 2000 United
States Census, the population of the State of Illinois is 12,419,293 people and individuals with a hearing loss: 1,070,543
(8.6% of the population).* * (*State of Illinois Deaf & Hard of Hearing Commission website information census
information*)Home Residents and Business Residents fail to understand how to receive or use Illinois Relay Services or
any other type of Relay Services. It is time for people to take this seriously by improving understanding
as to how to receive and use Illinois
Relay Services. Let our businesses
be the best in town in communicating with
people with disabilities such as Deaf, Hard of Hearing or the Speech Impaired.
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Standard Telephone User and TTY User,
the federal law mandates that all relay conversations are kept confidential and there will be no record kept. There is NO charge to use this Relay Service. The Long Distance Relay calls are billed at the regular
rate that is charged between the point from which you are making the call and to the point where the call terminates.
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What is the Illinois Relay Service: The Illinois Relay Service, also known as Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS), is a 24-hour-a-day, seven days-a-week
service which provides a communication link between those who use a TTY (Teletypewriter) and those who use a standard voice
telephone. TTYs are used by individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have
a speech disability to communicate over the phone. Simply, the Illinois Relay Service communicates simultaneously with each
person on the call. When a person using a standard phone speaks, the Communication Assistant (CA) types the information to the TTY (Teletypewriter) caller. When the TTY caller responds, the CA voices the typed information to the person using the standard phone.
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How to make a call through Illinois Relay Service: Ø Dial 7-1-1 Ø When a Communication Assistant (CA)
answers, give the telephone number of the person (Deaf, Hard of Hearing or Speech Impaired) you want to call. Ø When the TTY caller answers, proceed as you would with a regular call. Ø Say Go Ahead or “GA” when you are ready for other person to respond. Ø When you are finished with your conversation,
end the call by saying Go Ahead or “SK” (Stop Keying) and give the TTY caller an opportunity to continue or end
the call.
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How the Illinois relay calls work: When you answer your telephone, you will hear a Communication Assistant (CA) say “Hello, a person is calling through Illinois Relay”.
It means that there is a Deaf, Hard of Hearing or Speech Impaired person using a TTY (Teletypewriter)
to communicate with the Illinois Relay. The Communication Assistant will ask
you if you have received a relay call before. If you answer “No”,
the Communication Assistant will explain how the Illinois Relay works. This Illinois Relay Service is NEVER
a telemarketer. You would be able to identify these calls as you listen to the
message from the Illinois Relay Service. If
you answer “Yes”, the call will continue with the Communication Assistant voicing everything the TTY user types,
and typing everything the standard telephone user says. In respect of the Communication Assistant,
go to top of next column
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Title III of the American Disability
Act (ADA): Places of public accommodation included
over five million private establishments; such as, restaurants, hotels, theaters, convention centers, retail stores, shopping
centers, dry cleaners, Laundromats, pharmacies, doctors offices, hospitals, museums, libraries, parks, zoos, amusement parks,
private schools, day care centers, health spas, and bowling alleys. “Auxiliary aids” include such services or
devices as qualified interpreters, assistive listening headsets, television captioning and decoders, telecommunication devices
for deaf persons (TTY), videotext displays, readers, taped texts, brailed materials, and large print materials. Auxiliary
aids that would result in an undue burden (i.e. “significant
difficulty or expense”) or in a fundamental alteration in the nature of the goods or services are not required by the
regulation. However, a public accommodation must still furnish another auxiliary aid, if available, that does not result in
a fundamental alteration or an undue burden. If you find that you do have a TTY in your facility that has not been used and
you would like one of our staff to come to your site to give a presentation on how to use the TTY, give NICIL a call.
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